Method of forming and applying can ends



8, 1929- J. M. HOTHERSALL 1,730,575

, IETHOD OF FORMING AND APPLYING CAN- ENDS Filed March 23, 1925 I s Sheets-Sheet 1 I ATTORNEY INVENTOR 217W 8, 1929- J. M. HOTIA-IJEIRSALL METHOD OF FORIING ANIS APPLYING CAN ENDS Fiiedylarch 23. 1925 a Sheetsi-sheet 2- MMQEE 3 m A g 010. y y i y 5 .f v H \M. \A a 1 In... I\

-' mvzniok I BY? ATTORNEY 0a; 8, 1929. J. M.1HOTHERSALL v 3 METHOD OF FORMING AND APPLYING CAN ENDS Filed March 23, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IINVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 8, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT FFECE JOHN M. HOTHERSALL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR '10 AMERICAN CAN COM- ]?ANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY METHOD OF FOR-MING AND APPLYING CAN ENDS Application filed March 23, 1925. Serial No. 17,610.

My invention relates to the formation. of can covers, or ends, and the subsequent attachment of the same to can bodies The object of the invention is the provision 5 of an improved method of forming can ends and applying the same to can bodies in what is known as a false or imitation double seam. In this form of scam, the wall of the can is not flanged and iiiterfolded with the flange of O the end, as in the caseof the true double seam, but is straight and has the end flange pressed thereon in such manner asto provide a tight enough seam for certainkinds of products V and to simulate in appearance the true double 5 seam. In accordance with the method ordinarily employed for forming the false double seam, a cover having a straight, uncurled flange is placed upon the open end of an unflaiiged can body and the seam formed by means of rollers, or dies, having a lateral squeezing action.

Can making machinery has been developed in recent years so that every operation conneeted with the making of a can is or may be performed on fully automatic machines and at a very high rate of speed. It has been found that the straight flanged can ends of the type above referred to cannot be readily separated and fed by automatic cover feeds, 0 and this has resulted in slowing up the rate of manufacture, since the speed attainable in attaching the cover, inherently the slowest operation in the formation of the can, determines the speed possible for the entire line of manufacture.

My invention is directed to the provision of a method of making the can covers and at different places in the plant and supplied in sufficient quantities in the stack or magazinc in the automatic closing machine so that they may be fed to the seaming station at a rate of speed commensurate with the other operations, the form of the covers being such that the automatic feeds may operate thereon without difficulty.

Other objects and advantages of the inven 'tion will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof; 7

Referring to the drawings, I V Figure l is a perspective view of a can having a cover formed and applied thereto in accordance with the process of my invention, the form illustrated being one that has presented past from the particular difliculties in the can es above stated;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the punch or movable element of a die employed in forming the flange of the cover;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the stationary part of the die;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of acan end and a part of the die elements, showing the first operation on the cover flange;

Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views, showing the second and third operations;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of a stack holder, or magazine, showing the covers and parts ofthe feeding devices in elevation; and

Figs. 8 and9 are partial sectional views of a can cover positioned upon a body and of parts of the closing mechanism, the views illustrating, respectively,the positions of the closing elements just prior to and after the operation thereof.

On said drawings, illustrating the at present preferred means of practicing the process of my invention and a container produced thereby, the reference character 11 indicates a punch, or movable the element, forming a part of a press, the details of which are not shown since they are well known in the art to which the invention relates. Said punch is adapted to cooperate with lower die ele ments disposed within a die block 12, resting upon a bolster plate 18 fixedly mounted upon the frame of the press.

The lower part of the punch is formed .to provide a shell, or cage, 14 within which is movably mounted a forming panel 15, carried by screws 16 slidably disposed in said shell 14:. Said panel is held normally 6X- tended by means of springs 17 and is cut out at its bottom peripheral edge, as indicated at 18 and as shown in detail in Fig. 4. Knockout pins 19 project downwardly from arod 21, slidably mounted in the member 11 and extend through the panel 15, said pins being held normally retracted by means of a spring 22 disposed within a counter-bore 23 in said member 11 and held under compression by means of nuts 24:.

The lower die elements consist of the die block 12, within which is slidably mounted a clamping ring 25 resting upon springs 26 extending upwardly from the bolster plate 13, a fixed draw ring 27 secured by pins 28 to the bolster plate and a central panel block 29 disposed within the ring 27 and held in upwardly extended position by means of springs 81 extending upwardly from the 'bolster plate through openings 32 in a central body 33 of the ring 27, the latter being fixedly se cured to the bolster plate by mcansof screws 3 1. The cover, which I have indicated by the reference character 35 and which has a vertical wall part and a straight outwardly extending flange, is placed upon the panel block 29 in the manner shown in Fig. 3 and the upper die member moved downwardly thereon, the parts moving to the position shown in Fi 1 and arrangingthe flange as there shown.

In the next operation, a forming panel 15 is used, cooperating with the panel block 29 and a forming ring 27, these parts being formed to further arch the flange of the cover and bend the edge thereof inwardly, resulting in the quadrant shape shown in Fig. 5.

The third operation is performed by a forming panel 15", a forming block 29 and a shell or cage 14 on the punch, the flange beingbrought to the final form indicated in Fig. 6 of the drawings. In this form, two parallel walls 36 extend downwardly and outwardly and the cover is ready to be applied to the can body.

YVith the flanges so formed, the covers may be readily fed from a magazine or stack holder 3'? by means of feed slides 38 and 39 adapted to be alternately reciprocated at opposite sides of the stack to cut out the lowermost end and support the remainder of the stack.

The formed cover is then placed upon a can body 41 and subjected to the action of a lat-erally moving squeezer jaw 42, forming a part of the closing machine, the cover being held in place during this operation by means of a chuck 13 disposed within the panel thereof. The flange is thus forced in against the body, as shown in Fig. 9, tightly gripping the latter and forming a false double seam, completed in a single operation. The completed can is shown in Fig. 1, the seam being indicated by the reference character 44.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and, while I have disclosed in the drawings a preferred type of apparatus for the practice of my improved process, it will be apparent that other suitable forms of mechanism might be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,-or sacriflcing its material advantages, the invention being independent of the particular mechanism employed.

I claim:

1. The method of preparing can covers and attaching the same to can bodies in a false double seam, which consists in bending the cover flange, before the feeding of the covers to the cans, to form a double flange wall extending obliquely downwardly from a vertical wall on the cover, arranging the cover on a vertical unflanged wall of a can body, and squeezing said double flange wall inwardly against said body wall.

v 2. The method of preparing can covers for subsequent attachment to can bodies, which consists in providing a cover having a vertical wall part and a straight, outwardly extending flange, and progressively bending the flange to form two spaced flange walls, forming a double flange, extending downwardly from the top of the cover, before the application of the 'cover to the can body.

3. The method of preparing cancovers for subsequent attachment to can bodies, which consists in providing a cover having a vertical wall part and a straight, outwardly extending flange, and progressively bending the flange to first arch the same, and then turning the extremity inwardly and linally form two spaced flange walls extending 0bliquely downwardly from the vertical wall of the cover, before the application of thecover to the can body.

4:. Themethod of preparing can covers for subsequent attachment to can bodies, which consists in progressively bending the cover flange to form a double flange wall extending obliquely downwardly and outwardly from the cover, before the application of the cover to the can body.

JOHN M. HOTHERSALL. 

